Blood Pressure Targets Achievement According to 2018 ESC/ESH Guidelines in Three European Excellence Centers for Hypertension

Introduction The most recent European guidelines on hypertension redefined office blood pressure (BP) treatment targets according to age strata and cardiovascular (CV) risk profile. Aim To evaluate proportions of adult outpatients achieving office BP treatment targets recommended by current compared to previous hypertension guidelines. Methods We extracted data from medical databases of adult outpatients followed in three excellence centers in hypertension (Rome, Italy; L’Aquila, Italy; Valencia, Spain). Office BP treatment targets were defined according to either 2013 ESH/ESC guidelines (< 140/90 mmHg in non-diabetic individuals aged 18–80 years, < 150/90 mmHg in those aged ≥ 80 years, and < 140/85 mmHg in diabetic individuals), or 2018 ESC/ESH guidelines: (< 130/80 mmHg in individuals aged 18–65 years, < 140/80 mmHg in those aged 65–79 and ≥ 80 years). SCORE risk was assessed in all patients. Results From an overall sample of 14,229 adult subjects, 4049 (28.5%) resulted normotensive individuals, 3088 (21.7%) were untreated and 7092 (49.8%) treated hypertensive outpatients. Treated hypertensives showed significantly higher ESC score risk (8.3 ± 13.0% vs. 3.9 ± 8.4%; P < 0.001) and lower systolic/diastolic BP (140.6 ± 18.8/83.9 ± 11.5 vs. 148.3 ± 14.2/94.7 ± 10.1 mmHg; P < 0.001) than untreated hypertensives. Compared to previous guidelines, BP control significantly lowered in non-diabetic outpatients (n = 5847) of all age groups [18–65 years: (13.1% vs. 42.9%), 65–79 years (25.8% vs. 42.5%) and ≥ 80 years (29.1% vs. 66.0%); P < 0.001 for all comparisons]; similar reductions were observed in diabetic outpatients (n = 1245) [18–65 years (32.7% vs. 14.8%), 65–79 years (37.3% vs. 24.7%) and ≥ 80 years (47.1% vs. 27.9%); P < 0.001]. Conclusions According to the recommended new office BP treatment targets, the proportions of treated uncontrolled hypertensive patients substantially increased. These findings should prompt a tighter application of therapeutic recommendations and, thus, highlight the need for improving hypertension management and control strategies.